Poets Michael Rosen and Benjamin Zephaniah are among the big names lined up for Malvern Festival of Ideas 2023.
Professor Alice Roberts and former First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones have also been included in the line-up.
The festival has announced a programme of talks, conversations, interviews and discussions taking place from Friday, March 3 to Sunday, March 5.
Former children’s laureate Rosen will hold poetry sessions with local schools at Malvern Cube on Friday, March 3.
The rest of the festival will take place at Malvern St James Girls’ School, starting with Archeology in the Age of Genetics with Professor Alice Roberts, also on the Friday.
The programme of talks for Saturday, March 4, gets underway at 9.30am with Afua Hagan examining equality and inclusion, especially in the context of Black Lives Matter and equality for women.
At 3.30pm, Birmingham poet, lyricist, musician and actor Benjamin Zephaniah will be in conversation with award-winning Black Country poet Liz Berry.
They will be talking about racism, Black Liberation, revolution and, of course, poetry.
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On the evening Carwyn Jones, the former First Minister of Wales, will present a political view of this year’s theme, which is As Time Goes By.
The festival describes its theme for 2023 as exploring “the concept of being a good ancestor as well as examining how we handle the legacies handed down to us”.
This will be explored in three different ways on the Saturday afternoon, with sessions that examine expressions of black feminist poetics, the “afterlives of slavery” and mindful photography.
Philosopher Andy West will lead discussions for seven to 11-year-olds on The Ship of Theseus and The Frog and The Scorpion.
And there will be two shows from science showman Ian Dunne, Science Magic…Magic Science and The Condensed History of the Universe.
Artist and illustrator Will Hughes will lead a workshop for children showing how to create historical characters and use them to make an illustrated story.
For the full programme and to book tickets, visit malvernfestivalofideas.org.uk
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